Cheering onlookers waved balloons, flags and banners as the pope arrived at Bicentennial Park in Mexico's Guanajuato state. Many said they had spent the night camped out, awaiting the pope's arrival.

More than 400,000 people attended the Mass, according to Mexico's state-run Notimex news agency.

The pope urged Mexican Catholics to remain true to their faith, and called on the Virgin Mary to "continue accompanying and protecting her beloved Mexican and Latin American children, so that Christ reigns in their lives and helps them to boldly promote peace, harmony, justice and solidarity."

(CNN) – Opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.

Monsignor William Lynn has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child. Lynn served as the vicar of clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, a position in which he was responsible for investigating reports that priests had sexually abused children.

Leon, Mexico (CNN) – On the same day Pope Benedict addressed and blessed a group of 1,800 children in Guanajuato, Mexico, three Mexican authors released a book accusing the Vatican of hiding or ignoring cases of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests.

The book, "La Voluntad de no Saber" (Willing Not to be Aware), chronicles multiple cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by Marcial Maciel, a Mexican-born Roman Catholic priest who was influential at the Vatican.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.